Yemen Introduces Free Emergency Dial [Archives:2001/37/Local News]

For the first time, an emergency dial service has been introduced in Yemen as the Ministry of Interior has completed the technical and administrative arrangements related to making the free emergency dial accessible to all citizens in the republic through the toll-free number 199. The ministry noted that the toll-free number 199 will be directly connected with the police operation rooms in the capital Sana’a and the other governorates of the republic. With the use of the emergency dial system, any person would be able to call the police and ask for assistance or report any crimes. Moreover, Republic of Yemen intends to upgrade the capacity of the telephone network to 1 million telephone lines by the end of 2005, at an average annual growth rate of 16.7 %. Thus, the distribution of telephone lines will reach the rate of 4 telephone lines per each 100 inhabitants. The telephone capacity of the Republic of Yemen has also been upgraded from 242,000 telephone lines in 1995 to 460,000 telephone lines in 2000 at a growth rate of 14,1%. However, the size of investment has not exceeded YR 29.3 billion of which 83% is financed locally. The telecommunication projects included upgrading the rural telecommunication at 157 residential areas with the capacity of 31,000 telephone lines costing USD 37.4 million.

——
[archive-e:37-v:2001-y:2001-d:2001-09-10-p:./2001/iss37/ln.htm]